


care for some filtered water?

by Lizardstep



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Dark Forest (Warriors), F/M, Friendship, Morally Ambiguous Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:02:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28792128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lizardstep/pseuds/Lizardstep
Summary: set around the start of the broken code, mapleshade and darkstripe encounter each other by chance and begin to contemplate on their past actions.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	care for some filtered water?

"Hey," Mapleshade meowed, sitting down by the dark gray tom. Darkstripe turned to look at the tortoiseshell she-cat, and greeted her. They watched the dark trees sway in silence.  
"It's so quiet here," he breathed.  
"Now that I've noticed, yes, it is. The darkness is kind of peaceful."  
"And ever since the Great Battle, StarClan hasn't been harassing us as much."  
"Nor the clan cats," added Mapleshade.

"I overheard some StarClan cats talking by the border." Darkstripe's face was emotionless as he continued. "Apparently they're disconnected from the clans."  
"Now it makes sense why everything's so serene these days. No more livings wrecking this place in their sleep." she laughed drily, swishing her tail in the air.

"Say, would you care for some filtered water?"  
"I haven't cared about many things for quite a while, but sure, why not…" she paused mid-sentence.  
"Wait, what is that?"  
Darkstripe shrugged. "Just swamp water, but filtered through moss. It tastes quite close to clean water, actually."   
He held an oddly shaped rock with water in it in his paws. "I found this rock at the bottom of some swamp. I figured it could hold water, so I took it back here."  
The she-cat took a sip from it. "Hm, not bad." Though she could still taste the swamp, the water's lightness refreshed her, and reminded her of the river back in the forest.

"I've been wondering about the reason we fought against StarClan and the clans." meowed Darkstripe quietly.  
"Have you gone nuts? It's for vengeance. They wronged us!" Mapleshade scratched the damp earth beneath her.  
"So what if they did?" Darkstripe sighed, looking down at the ground. "I guess the solitude got to me. Of course, they have wronged us, but I've just begun to realize how tiring it was to plan revenge against them, moons after moons."  
He swallowed. "I mean, the clans don't even care about us, so why are we still clinging onto them?" 

It took some time for Mapleshade to process what Darkstripe was saying. "You're right, they don't care about us. Now that I think back, I don't understand how we could put up with all the constant planning and working we had to do back then. All for the sweetness of victory that never came." Bitterness welled up in Mapleshade's chest, then anger. As that feeling gradually faded, she was left with nothing but sadness and regret.

"That sense of victory never would have come, even if we had defeated StarClan." growled Darkstripe. "We would gain nothing but false pride. I don't think that destroying the clans was what any cat really wanted." 

"Is that the destiny of all the cats who come here? To be deprived of joy for the remainder of their existence?" 

"It isn't." his blue eyes met hers, and she saw a firm resolution beneath that gaze. "This corner of the Dark Forest is so sheltered, that no StarClan cat could enter without becoming obliterated, and no livings could come here without getting lost."

"You're saying..."

"We could cut off contact from the outside world. Forget entirely about them, and live our lives here."  
"In this land covered by swamps, damp air, and no prey?" Mapleshade tipped her head.  
"I figured out how to filter the water, which means we can figure out other things too." Darkstripe wrapped his tail around Mapleshade's shoulders. "Our ancestors have been too focused on their rage and ambitions to truly understand this place. Perhaps the Dark Forest only looks so grim in the eyes of the heartless." 

She smiled slightly. "It would be impossible to forget our past, but to think that all was just a nightmare is certainly possible."

"That is what our past is: a nightmare we're shadowed by. And this is the chance to leave it behind once and for all.   
"So, care for some more filtered water?" 

_In this corner of darkness that no other cats could reach, a new journey has begun._

_We've been here for so long, we reached acceptance, and now, we shall embrace this reality forevermore._

**Author's Note:**

> This conversation suddenly popped into my head one day.
> 
> No cat could remain eternally righteous, and it never sat right with me that these cats are banished due to the circumstances around them before their deaths. There are a lot of cats who made it to starclan that, if put through these very events, might have acted even worse than the dark forest cats did.
> 
> Which is why I believe, in the darkest corner of the warrior cats universe, when away from the attention of the main books, this is the type of conversations that would happen.
> 
> They're just misunderstood outcasts who made very questionable decisions.


End file.
